With the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs reaching a climax, attention will soon turn to the Presidents Cup, where an international team will be looking to beat Team USA at Royal Melbourne for the first time since 1998.
This year’s tournament will be held at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Each team will be made up of six automatic qualifiers and six captains’ choices, giving U.S. captain Jim Furyk and international team captain Mike Weir, a Canadian, the power to field teams as they see fit.
In this article, I’m going to share who I think should be on each team for the Presidents Cup. To be clear, this is not the player I think Furyk and Weir will select.
Automatic Qualifier: Team USA
The U.S. team will use FedExCup points to secure an automatic berth, and at the conclusion of the BMW Championship, the top six on the points list were determined.
1.) Scottie Scheffler – 13,671 points
2.) Xander Schauffele – 9,280 points
3.) Collin Morikawa – 6,001 points
4.) Wyndham Clark – 5,575 points
5.) Patrick Cantlay – 4,691 points
6.) Saheesh Sigala – 4,544 points
Vincenzi’s Captain Prediction: Team USA
7.) Keegan Bradley: His win at Castle Pines has cemented Bradley’s place on the U.S. team. The U.S. Ryder Cup captain showed poise and mental strength late in his victory over Adam Scott and Ludvig Aberg. He’ll now try out (for himself) for a spot on the 2025 Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black.
8.) Sam Burns: Sam Burns didn’t have his best season on tour, but a strong finish ensured him a spot on the Presidents Cup team. Besides a tie for second at the BMW Championship, Burns has match play experience as the winner of the 2023 Dell Technologies Match Play. He’s also played great golf in Canada, finishing in the top 10 in two of his three starts at the RBC Canadian Open. Being good friends with Scottie Scheffler hasn’t hurt Burns’ success either.
9.) Tony Finau: Tony Finau was a member of the 2019 Presidents Cup team at Royal Melbourne, going 0-1-3 with a loss in singles on Sunday to Hideki Matsuyama. Playing in the Presidents Cup as a visitor will bring some experience to a team that was blown out by the Europeans at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. Finau will play a few rounds with Wyndham Clark; the two have played together in the Scottsdale area and should be a natural pairing.
10.) Russell Henley: Russell Henley is the type of player who is extremely useful on layouts with narrow fairways and penalized rough. In 2024, Henley ranked 4th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy and 1st in overall proximity to the hole on approach shots. Henley performed well in the second half of the season, finishing in the top 7 in the final two majors of the season.
11.) Akshay Bhatia: 2024 was a breakout season for Bhatia. I have long believed he is one of the most talented young prospects in golf. He won the Valero Texas Open in a playoff against Denny McCarthy and showed some serious grit and determination on the back nine. The 22-year-old had his best finish in a major at the U.S. Open (T16) and had 12 top-20 finishes on the season. The sky is the limit for this 22-year-old. He has experience playing in the Walker Cup, but the 2024 Presidents Cup will be a good introduction to playing for the U.S. team at a professional level.
12.) Billy Horschel: Billy Horschel was exactly the type of player the U.S. team was missing at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. The veteran is a tenacious player who excels in match play, as he showed when he defeated Scottie Scheffler to win the 2021 Dell Technologies Match Play. Horschel is one of the most consistent putters on tour, ranking third in Strokes Gained Putting on the season behind Denny McCarthy and Xander Schauffele. Horschel is currently on a roll, finishing tied for second at the British Open, tied for seventh at the Wyndham Championship and tied for 10th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Missing: Justin Thomas, Nick Dunlap, Max Homa, Cameron Young, Brian Harman.
Comment: Believe it or not, the hardest player for me to leave off the team was Nick Dunlap. He won two tournaments this season and has made a big mark on the tour at just 20 years old. His win at the Bradley BMW Championship means he is one of the players to leave off the team, but I don’t think anyone should feel too bad about it given the overall results of the season.
Automatic Qualifiers: International Teams
International teams use OWGR points to determine automatic qualifiers, and at the end of the BMW Championship the top six on the points list were finalised.
1.) Hideki Matsuyama (Japan) – 5.5393
2.) Tom Kim (South Korea) – 3.3465
3.) Lim Sung-jae (South Korea) – 3.2821
4.) Jason Day (Australia) – 3.0594
5.) Adam Scott (Australia) – 2.8814
6.) Ahn Byung-hun (South Korea) – 2.7930
Vincenzi’s Captain’s Pick: International Team
7.) Corey Connors (CAN): With the Presidents Cup coming to Canada, it makes sense to have Canada’s best player on the international team. Connors has had a solid but unspectacular year with four top-10 finishes, including a sixth-place finish at the RBC Canadian Open. He’ll be looking to bounce back from a pretty dismal 2020 Presidents Cup debut in which he lost all four of his matches.
8.) Ming Woo Lee (Australia): Ming Woo Lee brings confidence to a team looking to make history against a relatively weak US team. The Australian hits the ball with a bang and ranks fifth in driving distance on the PGA Tour in 2024. Expectations were high for Ming Woo this year and it could be said he didn’t live up to those expectations relative to his talent, given that he didn’t finish in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. However, he is simply talented and has shown plenty of flashes, so he shouldn’t be left out of an international team that needs high-end performances to pull off an upset.
9.) Cameron Davis (Australia): Cameron Davis is an extremely off-form player, but he proved with his win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic this year that he is one of the most important players in international competition, both in good and bad form. The ability to make birdies is important in match play, and few players in competition make as many birdies as Davis. He was ranked third in 2024 PGA Tour birdies or better from the fairway. If he can keep his driver on the planet, the Australian will be a weapon in international competition.
No. 10) Taylor Pendris (CAN): The addition of Taylor Pendris gives the International team a second Canadian player for local fans to cheer on at home. It’s been a great season for the 33-year-old Pendris, who won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May and has finished in the top 20 of the leaderboard in 10 of his past 12 starts. Pendris has continued to play consistently in the FedEx Cup playoffs, finishing tied for 22nd at the FedEx St. Jude and tied for 13th at the BMW Championship against some of the best players on the PGA Tour. Pendris is also a player who will have to prove himself in the 2022 Presidents Cup, having lost all four of his matches.
11.) Kim Si Woo (Republic of Korea): Kim Si Woo brought a lot of potential to the International team. The Korean has proven that he can compete with the top players on the PGA Tour when he plays at his best, and he has won four times on the PGA Tour. Kim was one of the best players at the 2022 Presidents Cup, winning three of the four matches he played. He played with Cameron Davis in the opening foursomes, defeating Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns to earn the International team the only point of the session. He also teamed with Tom Kim in the four-ball to defeat the top U.S. team of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. He ended the week by defeating Justin Thomas in singles. We look forward to seeing the Si Woo-Tom Kim duo do big things at Royal Montreal.
12.) Jonathan Vegas (Venezuela): This may be a controversial decision, but my final pick is Jonathan Vegas of Venezuela. In 2017, Vegas became the first Venezuelan to represent Venezuela at the Presidents Cup, and after going 1-4 during the week, he defeated Jordan Spieth in singles on Sunday. Vegas, who played well alongside Adam Scott, lost two rounds 1-down to some of the toughest teams in the U.S. Vegas brings veteran leadership to the international team and has also had incredible success in Canada. He won the RBC Canadian Open in both 2016 and 2017. He has also continued his good form heading into the fall. Vegas has been hitting brilliantly, winning the 3M Open in July, and has gained strokes above the field in ball-striking for five consecutive tournaments.
Missing: Adam Hadwin, Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor, Christian Bezuidenhout, Erik van Rooyen, Emiliano Grillo, Ryan Fox.
Comment: Of all the players who missed out, South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout has the most to complain about. C-Bes has been incredibly consistent on the PGA Tour this season but has yet to show he can truly compete for the win. Given that he missed out on a win and didn’t boost me with a strong performance in a major, I’ve prioritised Vegas over him. Canada’s Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes will be disappointed to miss out, but both have seen a sharp decline in form over the past few months.
What was your reaction? LIKE13LEGIT6WOW4LOL1IDHT1FLOP1OB2SHANK8
Source link